Railroad switch heater



1965 w. J. CHERRY ETAL 3,223,835

RAILROAD SWITCH HEATER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Eiled Oct. 19. 1961 FIG.

INVENTORS William J. Cherry Ivan H. Easf 1965 w. J. CHERRY ETAL 3,223,835

RAILROAD SWITCH HEATER 2. Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 19, 1961 FIG. 3.

FIG. 4.

FIG. 5.

INVI \ITORS William J. Cherry Ivan H. Easf 3|Cl TO IGNITION United States Patent 3,223,835 RAILROAD SWITCH HEATER William J. Cherry, Rte. 1, Box 210, Elliston, Va., and Ivan H. East, Norfolk & Western Raiiway Co., Roanoke, Va.

Filed Oct. 19, 1961, Ser. No. 146,089 2 flaims. (Cl. 246428) The present invention appertains to new and useful improvements in heaters for railroad switches and the like.

One of the main difiiculties railroads experience in the winter time is the freezing of snow and rain on its switches, thus making them next to impossible to operate. This is particularly true where the operation of the switches is automatic and there is, of course, no provision for extra power to operate the switches when they are covered with ice and snow and thus often frozen together.

It is therefore the principal object of this invention to provide a railroad switch heater that will automatically melt ice and snow from between the rails of a switch as well as that which has accumulated between the points and under them whenever it snows or freezes.

Another one of the objects of this invention is to provide a railroad switch heater that can be quickly assembled and installed.

Another object of this invention is to provide a railroad switch heater that is positive in its operation and will need but little maintenance.

Another object of this invention is to provide a railroad switch heater that is oil fired and therefore has little if any time lag in its operation unless it is so desired.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a railroad heater that is most eflicient by reason of the fact that the rails are heated directly from an oil furnace burners rather than from electric heaters or other devices that sometimes fail to operate under severe snow and icing conditions.

Other objects will appear and be better understood from the embodiment of the invention disclosed in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of the invention secured to a railroad switch.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a view taken substantially along line 33 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 1-4 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5 is a wiring diagram of the electric circuit of the invention.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the reference character designates a typical section of a railroad track embodying fixed rails 11 and 12, mova ble rails 13 and cross ties 14. A rail duct 15 is located along the outer side of fixed rail 11 while a second rail duct 16 is located along the out-er side of fixed rail 12. A main duct 17 is found to be between and below two of the rail cross ties 14. This duct has one end adapted to the underside of rail duct 16 while duct 15 is suitably secured thereon at the location shown in FIGURE 1 of the appended drawings. The other end of the main duct 17 is adapted to the blower fan 18 along with its heater 19. A plurality of nozzles on top of the said main duct 17 directs the heated air through rail ducts 16 and 15 and against the said movable rails 13 as clearly shown in FIGURE 1 of the appended drawings. As shown in FIG- URE 4, one side of at least one of the pairs of ducts is open and against the outside of the respective fixed rail.

Although shown only in the diagrammatic view, FIG- URE 5, there is considerable necessary electric wiring that connects the electric motor 27 which drives the 3,223,835 Patented Dec. 14, 1 965 ,open contacts 26b and 260, controls the blower motor,

as illustrated in the diagram. The motor designated by the reference character 27 is actually on the rear end of the same housing that contains the nozzles 20 noted in FIGURES 1 and 2 of the appended drawings. A slow opening, normally closed contact 28b controlled by heater coil 28a of delay relay 28 is connected to one terminal of the control switch 24 by means of wire 29. Contact 28b of relay 28 is in turn connected to a variable resistance, flame monitoring and sensing means such as photo cell 30, which serially connects to a coil 31a of photo cell relay 31 that has a contact 31b normally closed, and

also to the coil 25a and second contact 250 in the first mentioned power relay 25. A clock timer 33, with its normally closed contact 33b operated by clock motor 33a, is hooked into the electric circuit of this novel invention in the manner clearly shown in the wiring diagram shown in FIGURE 5.

The blower fan 18, heater 19 along with their housing 34, as well as nozzles 20 and all electrical parts of this invention are conventional and no further description of the same need be given in this specification since their construction and basic method of operation is assumed to be well understood by those experienced in the art. For the same reason neither the fuel or ignition mechanism is shown since it can be assembled many ways and still fall within the scope of this invention.

The actual operation of this novel railroad switch heater is self explanatory when one examines the above mentioned wiring diagram (FIGURE 5).

When the control switch 24 is closed, electric current will flow through the wires 22 and 23 that are the main lines of the circuit to the first mentioned power relay 25 which is energized through the contacts 28b of the delay relay 28, thus starting pump motor 21 and the ignition of the oil via lines 40, at the same time energizing the second noted power relay 26 through the contacts 25b of the first mentioned power relay 25, thereby starting the blower motor 27. The second mentioned power relay 26 is also energized through its own contacts 26b and through the contacts 33b of the clock timer 33. Ignition of the oil produces a flame which is reused by photo cell 30, changing its resistance to cause energization of the coil of relay 31 to hold its contacts open as long as the flame continues. This, in turn, keeps the coils of relay 28 and timer 33 de-energized while the flame endures. In case of flame failure in the fire chamber, photo cell 30 will change resistance and pass insufficient energy through the photo cell relay 31, thus closing its contact 31b and causing the heater coil 28a in the delay relay 28 to heat up and open the contacts 28b, thereby stopping the pump motor 21. At the same time that energy through the contacts of the relay 26 and the photo cell relay 31 will operate the clock motor 33a of the clock timer 33, and open contacts stopping blower motor 27. The clock timer 33 is set for a time long enough to allow the blower motor to cool down the heater, thereby preventing any damage to the same. By opening the control switch the clock timer 33 will of course operate to stop the heater 19.

This new and novel invention of a railroad switch heater has now had both its construction and operation described in detail.

From the above stated description of the invention and its operation, it will now be seen that we have provided an invention that accomplishes all of the objects set forth in the specification, and many other advantages of considerable practical utility and commercial importance.

As many embodiments may be made in this invention and as many modifications may be made in the concept, hereinbefore shown and described in detail, it is to be understood that all matter herein shown and described is to be interpreted merely as illustrative and not at all in any limiting sense.

Therefore, what we do claim as our invention and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A heater apparatus for a railroad switch having two fixed rails and two movable rails comprising:

a pair of ducts, each positioned adjacent the outside of each one of the two fixed rails of a railroad switch; a main duct positioned transverse to the two fixed rails and connected to the pair of ducts positioned adjacent to the outside of each one of the two fixed rails;

heater means secured to one end of the main duct for heating air;

blower means secured to one end of the main duct for blowing the heated air through the main duct; and four nozzles extending from the main duct,,two of the nozzles communicating with the interior of the pair of ducts positioned adjacent the outside of the fixed rails through one end of the ducts and directing heated air into the ducts to melt snow and ice from the rails and the other two nozzles being positioned between the fixed rails and in front of the two movable rails for directing heated air towards the points of the movable rails for melting snow and ice from the rails. 2. The heater apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein one side of at least one of the pair of ducts is open and is against the outside of the respective fixed rail.

References Cited by the Examiner ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner. JAMES S. SHANK, LEO QUACKENBUSH,

Examiners. 

1. A HEATER APPARATUS FOR A RAILROAD SWITCH HAVING TWO FIXED RAILS AND TWO MOVABLE RAILS COMPRISING: A PAIR OF DUCTS, EACH POSITIONED ADJACENT THE OUTSIDE OF EACH ONE OF THE TWO FIXED RAILS OF A RAILROAD SWITCH; A MAIN DUCT POSITIONED TRANSVERSE TO THE TWO FIXED RAILS AND CONNECTED TO THE PAIR OF DUCTS POSITIONED ADJACENT TO THE OUTSIDE OF EACH ONE OF THE TWO FIXED RAILS; HEATER MEANS SECURED TO ONE END OF THE MAIN DUCT FOR HEATING AIR; BLOWER MEANS SECURD TO ONE END OF THE MAIN DUCT FOR BLOWING THE HEATED AIR THROUGH THE MAIN DUCT; AND FOUR NOZZLES EXTENDING FROM THE MAIN DUCT, TWO OF THE NOZZLES COMMUNICATING WITH THE INTERIOR OF THE PAIR OF DUCTS POSITIONED ADJACENT THE OUTSIDE OF THE FIXED RAILS THROUGH ONE END OF THE DUCTS AND DIRECTING HEATED AIR INTO THE DUCTS TO MELT SNOW AND ICE FROM THE RAILS AND THE OTHER TWO NOZZLES BEING POSITIONED BETWEEN THE FIXED RAILS AND IN FRONT OF THE TWO MOVABLE RAILS FOR DIRECTING HEATED AIR TOWARDS THE POINTS OF THE MOVABLE RAILS FOR MELTING SNOW AND ICE FROM THE RAILS. 